SunRail trains roll into Florida Hospital's new station

April 30, 2014|Michael W. Freeman, College Park Forum Editor

COLLEGE PARK — As a band played Dixieland music and a massive banner read “Welcome to Florida Hospital Health Village Station,” the first SunRail train rolled into the first station in downtown Orlando on Wednesday, marking the official grand opening of the Health Village Station at Florida Hospital.

“We’re just so excited to be able to celebrate this moment,” said Lars Houmann, president and CEO of Florida Hospital. “History is always in the process of being made.”

As city leaders like Mayor Buddy Dyer and Commissioner Robert Stuart joined with Houmann and U.S. Rep. Corrine Brown, D-Jacksonville, there was considerable excitement for the start of a project that has been widely anticipated for years.

“SunRail is a reality today,” Dyer said. “Today we launch SunRail in a whole new era of transit in Central Florida.”

The train station is located right off East Rollins Street. Next to it is the McRae Avenue Garage, which has over 1,000 parking spaces available, and a walkway leading into the Florida Hospital headquarters building.

Florida Hospital has been a major supporter of SunRail from the beginning, something Dyer noted when he pointed out that one of the last challenges for getting SunRail approved was securing the support of Gov. Rick Scott, who had vetoed state funding for a high speed train from Orlando to Tampa.

As Dyer noted, it was the business community in Central Florida that helped convince the governor to give a green light to this project, and that Houmann and other Florida Hospital officials made trips to Tallahassee to lobby the governor on SunRail.

Now, Dyer said, the “naysayers” who opposed SunRail seem quiet, while the loudest voices are coming from those who want to know if SunRail can be expanded to add more routes, days, and longer operating hours.

“We haven’t even started operations, and everyone is excited about how do we expand service,” Dyer said.

Brown noted that the business community deserves a round of applause for helping to make this commuter rail system a reality.

“This was a partnership between the government and the private sector,” she said.

And noting the construction work going on right behind the station, as Florida Hospital continues to grow, she added, “This noise you hear in the background, that is a sign of progress.”

The first two weeks of SunRail have been free. Regular pay service begins on Monday, May 19.

In the meantime, Dyer added, the city was pushing for other transportation service options to help get those riding SunRail from the four downtown stations to their next destination.

“We’re expanding the limo service in downtown Orlando, and Lynx bus service,” the mayor said.

SunRail should be an easy sell, Stuart said, for anyone who wants to avoid traffic congestion and take advantage of the free wifi service available on the trains.

“I brought today my Ipad, and this is the fun part, because as we hop on the train today, I have work to do,” he said.

Houmann predicted that SunRail would have a very strong long-term impact on Orlando’s economy, leading to much greater economic development opportunities.